'Cara' Webcam Software Sizes You Up Immediately

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NEW YORK — When you converse with someone via webcam, you can
probably determine his or her age, sex and level of engagement
pretty accurately, even if you've never met before. Now, a new
piece of software, called 'Cara,' allows almost any webcam to do
the same thing.

Cara comes from IMRSV, a New York-based startup, and doesn't
require much power to run. Any computer with an Intel Duo Core
processor and any webcam with a resolution of at least 640 x 480
pixels (nearly all modern computers and webcams
meet or exceed these requirements) can run the software, which
takes only seconds to identify a subject's most salient features.

Jason Sosa, IMRSV's founder, demoed Cara at the NY Tech Meetup,
held here in New York on May 7. He stood in front of a crowded
theater, pointed his laptop's built-in webcam toward his face,
and explained each feature. A blue circle appeared around Jason's
face, indicating male gender. It pegged him as a "young adult"
and monitored how much time he spent looking at the
camera and how many times he turned his attention elsewhere.

Cara scans a number of facial features and runs algorithms to
determine age (with 93 percent accuracy) and sex (with 92 percent
accuracy). Sex is binary (although transgendered subjects could
feasibly throw the system for a loop), and age contains four
categories: child (0-13), young adult (14-35), adult (35-65) and
senior (65+).

The software can function at distances of up to 25 feet (with a
good enough webcam and ample light), and can identify multiple
subjects simultaneously. Cara also collects data — for instance,
how long a person spends facing the camera, how many times he or
she glances away and how many people pass by without looking.

Although Cara could theoretically build up a suite of
security features, IMRSV is not interested in taking the
software in that direction. Cara cannot identify individual
people or record images or video (it compiles data and saves it
in spreadsheets and charts instead). Instead, it envisions Cara
as a business tool, especially for retail applications and
audience analysis. [See also:
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One idea Sosa pitched was to set up webcams in retail shops.
Running Cara at promotional displays will give managers a good
idea of which displays are popular with certain demographics. At
the register, Cara can compile data about who does most of the
buying. Analyzing these data could aid shops in more efficiently
promoting their goods and helping customers find what they're
looking for.

At $40 per camera per month, Cara can be a pricey investment, but
most users interested in the service probably already have the
hardware they need to run it. If all goes well, they can use
Cara to earn back that $40, and more.